Travel Day+

Last night we finished off Jac’s must-do list by ‘watering the lizards’, one of Jac’s - and Donovan’s - favorite activities. 

 Practicing her rooster-tails

It brings her trip full circle since on one of her first days here she actually caught a lizard. (Here)

Travel day was pretty uneventful, except for the 30+ minute delay because our plane had no crew. (They blamed it on traffic…) Not sure when Saturday turned into any easy, no crowds fly-day but it’s been working for us. 

 One night ‘over there’ is about the same $ as 3 nights over here. Loved the splurge but once was probably enough …

We’re on the other side of the Spokane River this time, almost directly across from our first hotel. (Here) 

We have a balcony room on the top floor, overlooking the river. Jac is once again thrilled to have a giant pull-out sofa bed. 

 Riverwalk behind our hotel…

Once we reached our hotel, I thought we were done for the day… 

… and a bridge to Riverfront Park

but this is Spokane… 

 Sunset

and our hotel is near the falls… 

How could we resist?? 

 Movies in the park on summer Saturday nights

Such a pretty town. 

Ready to be done with this hike…

Can’t wait to see more of it.

 Little bit of sunset, little bit of wildfire smoke, interesting light for pictures

 Jac has plans to go back to that playground.

Extra Suitcase

Want to see why we need an extra suitcase to get Jac home?

These ⬆️ are the stuffies she brought with her, aka ‘not my fault’.

These are the babies she acquired while she was here. Pop and I share equal blame for these.

And these are alllllll the animals that are going home with her.

Why yes, they do all have names … Ocean the snake, Mango (cat), Sprinkles (dog), Shadow the black axolotl, Tsunami (dolphin), Flare Tiger, Sundae (kitten), Spark (cheetah), Muffin (cat), Icey the penguin, Hearts (porcupine), Rainbow and Night are axolotls, Rosie Sylvion (from Pokémon), Mountain the Island Fox and Sunny the Fennec Fox. 

Penultimate Jaclyn

It’s our next to last day with Jaclyn 

so we crammed as many of her favorite things in as possible.

I’ve never seen her sit like this before. For some reason, it really hit home that she’s growing up.

Sky Zone ✔️

Miso Salmon at Cheesecake Factory ✔️

Playing with Ginger and Coco ✔️

Beating Grandma at Yahtzee and Roblox ✔️

 New old-school games - I’ve taught all the CA grandgirls to play Yahtzee. They much prefer the computerized version.

Talking Pop into taking her to In-n-Out during the dinner rush ✔️✔️✔️

 Jump!

Tomorrow is laundry and packing 

 Jac talked me into getting her a wrap for her wet hair. It’s one of her favorite new things.

and Saturday we fly!

Vet Day

Ginger needed her nails trimmed - poor kitty, every step she takes her claws get caught in the carpet or bed or me - and I wasn’t sure how much she would cooperate this first time around. Better to let the pro’s do it, along with a general check-up and vaccinations. 

My sweet 15 pound girl didn’t hiss or growl or even try to get away. She just cooperated and charmed everyone.

We also discovered that 2 of her teeth need to come out and she’s probably in a fair amount of pain. That led to blood work being done and surgery scheduled after we get back from taking Jac home this weekend. 

Seems Ginger might be holding a grudge… she decided Pop was her favorite person tonight since he didn’t help hold her for the vet.

I may have to bribe my way back into her good graces…

Ginger Progress

I’m kinda surprised at how much progress Ginger has made. We picked her up last Tuesday and released her into the upstairs bedroom with food, water, litter box and lots of hiding places. 

Goofy face

Wednesday we saw fleeting, hissing glimpses of her under a bed and in the closet where she’d forced the door open. (She’s very good at opening cabinet and room doors…) She was willing to eat a Churu while I was in the room so that felt like progress. (Churu = tubes of yogurt-textured treats that are like cat crack 😜)

Thursday she was still growling but was out of the closet, 

 Sniffing around Coco’s carrier while Coco checks out Ginger’s downstairs 

exploring, eating and relaxing on the cat tree from her old home. 

Friday I about fell over in surprise - ⬆️ she greeted me with hisses and growls, but also head butted me, demanding scratches. Gotta admit the growls make me (and Jackie) nervous but she’s never tried to bite or swipe at us with her claws. 

I’ve been spending a couple of hours with her twice a day, laying on the bed and letting her set the pace. By bedtime Friday, she had been up on the bed with me demanding attention,

 Jac is on the right, cat toy in hand

let Jac play with her (at a distance), and went to sleep pressed against me like we had always been BFF’s.

Friday Pop came up to visit… she loved him! No growls, just demands for pets. 

She also let Jac sit on the bed… 

then played with her… 

and demanded scratches and attention. Jac is thrilled!

We tried leaving the bedroom door open so Ginger could explore but she panicked and hid in the closet again. 

 Curious Coco

Tomorrow we’re putting a temporary gate at the top of the stairs so Ginger can explore and she and Coco can start to get acquainted. Crossing fingers this goes smoothly…..

One More Crossed Off

We’re getting towards the bottom of Jac’s must-do list and the end of her vacation. I asked her - only half joking - if she wanted to stay another month. “No, I miss my dog too much.” Mom, dad and sissy are way back behind all her 4-footed pals. 😂

 Queen of the Ball

Thursday was the jump up place (I can never remember the name… Sky Zone.) We timed it well, arriving about 11:30 when the morning kids were leaving and the school bus loads (not joking) of afternoon camp kids hadn’t yet arrived. 

 Sweaty Jaclyn

We bought a one month membership (same price as a day pass) which gave Jac two hours of jump time rather than just one. We didn’t think she’d make it past an hour but she surprised us. 

We ended up leaving a little before her time was up. There were so many kids, and so little supervision (by camp staff or employees), that it was getting dangerous. Good thing she was tired and hungry so we got no complaints. 

We may go back again next week, unless she thinks of something she’d rather do. 

“I’m not sleeping…zzzzzz”

It’s great exercise!

Meet Ginger

I’ve been thinking about getting a second cat, someone for Coco to play with, and glancing thru cat cafe and cat rescue photos when they show up in FB/Insta posts. Not actively searching, rather waiting to see if the Universal Cat Distribution System had something in mind. (It’s a real phenomenon, g00gle it…)

Which is how I found Ginger. She’s exactly what I wanted - an adult (she’s 10), friendly, orange female (which is unusual, most orange cats are boys) who needed a new home (due to divorce in Ginger’s case.)

Not sure how much she weighs but I couldn’t lift her in her carrier. We’ll do a vet visit next month when she’s more comfy.

Jac and I went to meet her today and she’s sweet, shy and a big cuddle bug once she’s used to you. Ginger’s upstairs now, hiding under a bed - apparently it took her a week to come out from under there the last time her family moved. Once she’s comfortable with me, we’ll slowly introduce her to Princess Coco. They both have lived in multi-cat households so fingers crossed this goes smoothly.